Action sports (e.g., skateboarding, snowboarding, bicycle motocross (BMX), downhill mountain biking, and the like), motorsports (e.g., off-road and on-road motorcycle riding and racing) and traditional contact sports (e.g., football and hockey) continue to grow at a significant pace throughout the world as each of these sports expands into wider participant demographics. While technology and sophisticated training regimes continue to improve the performance capabilities for such athletes/participants, the risk of injury attendant to these activities also increases. Current “state of the art” helmets are not keeping pace with the evolution of sports and the capabilities of athletes. At the same time, science is providing alarming data related to the traumatic effects of both repetitive but moderate, and severe impacts to the head. While concussions are at the forefront of current concerns, rotational brain injuries from the same concussive impacts are no less of a concern, and in fact, are potentially more troublesome.